Just Between Us
by Catalina Leigh
Summary: It was an accident he found out. It wasn't intentional. He wasn't supposed to know. No one knew. Not even Ducky. *Pre-series oneshot*


**Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, its characters, etc., etc.**

 **A/N: This has nothing to do with my other NCIS story The Devil's in the Details. This is just an idea I got into my head a while ago. The whole start with a middle and work your way out? Yeah, that's how this went. I envisioned this one little scene, and then the leading up to it, and the after it...well, it just took on a life of its own. This is just a oneshot set about six months after Tony joins NCIS. A little moment between my** **favorite duo. :) Enjoy!**

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Just Between Us

Tony was surprised at how things had turned out. He hadn't even been in DC six months yet. He didn't know that many people. Just people at work, and the girls he'd hooked up with, but he didn't count them. So when the pipes in the apartment above him burst and flooded his apartment, Tony wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Most of his stuff was still in storage. He'd only moved into this apartment a few months ago after his breakup with Wendy, but a few long and tough cases had kept him from getting around to moving all his stuff in. So, though he didn't really have to replace anything, the landlord had told him it would take at least a couple days to fix the water damage. It was already late at that point so Tony had just gone back to the office, gotten some more work done, slept at his desk for a few hours, and gotten in a workout and shower in the gym before everyone arrived.

Gibbs had done a double take when he'd seen his young agent already at his desk and working when he'd arrived with his coffee. At first, Tony had tried to just shrug it off, but after a few hours of glares and head slaps he'd finally given in and explained what had happened to his boss. Gibbs didn't say anything. But, while Tony was glad he wasn't getting in trouble for sleeping in the office, he doubted he could get away with it a second night in a row, especially now that Gibbs would be expecting him to.

Not wanting to have to pay for a hotel, he'd thought about asking Abby if he could use her couch, but he didn't want to bother her. The forensic scientist had only recently started to warm up to him, and Tony didn't want to push his luck by asking for a favor like this. So, after resigning himself to sleeping in his car tonight despite the tight fit, it had came as a surprise when Gibbs had caught him on his way to his car and told Tony to follow him.

Blindly following his boss, the young agent had been exceedingly confused when they arrived at a nice house in a suburban neighborhood. Even more so when Gibbs ignored his questioning, just told him to grab his bag, and walked right on inside. It wasn't until he'd entered the living room that Tony realized this was Gibbs's house. Though nothing like he'd imagined it, not that he'd been imagining his boss's home, it did seem to fit the marine, just not the way you'd think if you only knew the bastard side of the man.

He'd been here once before, but he really only barely remembered it. That night was mostly a blur, or just blank. It was right after Wendy dumped him, and he'd gotten drunk and ended up in a bar fight with a couple sailors. The bartender knew Gibbs, and had already called him, so the marine had arrived just in time to break up the fight before anyone got seriously injured. Then he'd dragged his drunk as a skunk agent out of the bar. Next thing Tony remembered was sitting on Gibbs's couch and puking into a bucket. He knew they'd had some sort of conversation during all that, but when he woke up the next morning he was so hung over he wasn't sure what had really happened, and he'd been too scared to ask Gibbs. Tony blamed the killer hangover he'd had then for the reason he didn't recognize where they were until he was here.

"Uh…Boss…" Tony had started, uneasy about invading his superior's personal space.

But before he was able to express his reluctance, Gibbs had simply pointed to the stairs and told him where the bathroom and guest bedroom were.

Dropping his bag by the closet, Tony hesitantly sat down on the bed and glanced around Gibbs's spare bedroom. He felt weird. Last time, he'd been drunk or hung over, and never saw any part of the house besides the living room and downstairs bathroom. Now that he was here, and sober, it was like seeing it for the first time. And it felt like a complete invasion of privacy.

His natural curiosity was dying to snoop around. Gibbs was a functional mute; a man of few words, at best. He never gave away personal information, none that really mattered anyway. Most of what Tony knew about his boss had been pieced together from tiny little snidbits, usually throwaway comments, that occasionally escaped the senior agent. Yet, despite the intense desire to find out more about the man he was beginning to look up to more and more each day, there was something stopping Tony from satisfying his curiosity. Call it respect, call it fear, or more likely a healthy dose of both.

Sighing heavily, Tony stood up, deciding to hit the head before going back downstairs and offering his assistance with dinner. Not that he could cook, at least not very well, let alone anything he thought Gibbs would eat. But he was already feeling off-kilter enough, and didn't want to feel like a moocher too.

Tony saw three closed doors when he got into the hallway. One was obviously Gibbs's room, and one was obviously the bathroom. He had no clue what the third room was, and quickly shut his mind down before it could venture a guess. Trouble was Tony didn't know which door was which. He couldn't remember which one Gibbs had said was the bathroom. There were two doors on the right, including the guest room, one at the end of the hallway, and one on the left.

The one at the end of the hallway made the most sense, logically. So Tony tried that one. He was immediately proven wrong.

Even if Tony had let his mind run rampant through the possibilities of what the third room was for, this would not have been anywhere on that list. A storage room, an exercise room, or maybe even another spare bedroom seemed the most likely candidates. A little girl's light pink and purple bedroom would never have crossed Tony's mind.

Unable to stop himself, Tony took in the room; the soft colors, the flowers and butterflies, and a few sports trophies. Everything was neat and tidy; the bed was made, books on the shelf, everything put away. But the thick layer of dust over everything told the investigator that this was a room that hadn't been entered in a long time, probably years. Curiosity taking over, Tony walked over to look at the pictures on the dresser.

The first picture he saw was of two little girls. One of the girls had blonde hair, the other light brown. Both were smiling, and looked like happy kids. Looking at the next picture, Tony saw the brown-haired girl again, so he assumed this was her room. In this picture was also a beautiful redheaded woman. You could see the resemblance between the two, especially in the smile. It made Tony smile just looking at it, seeing the love and joy on their faces. His smile fell and his jaw dropped when he turned his attention to the next picture.

There, with his arms around the mother and daughter, was a younger Gibbs. A younger, _smiling_ Gibbs.

To say that Tony was shocked would be an understatement.

He didn't know how long he'd been standing there before he felt someone watching him. Too stunned to even startle or apologize for getting caught snooping, all Tony could do was stare at his boss.

Gibbs, for his part, was wearing the most painfully stoic expression Tony had ever seen. His eyes were on the picture in his young agent's hand.

000

Both men just sat there on the couch. Neither had spoken since Gibbs had found Tony in his daughter's bedroom. They weren't even looking at each other. It had probably been thirty minutes, but neither man cared about the time. They just let the silence reign.

"Kelly."

Tony's head snapped towards Gibbs at the softly spoken word.

Gibbs was still staring intently at a spot on the floor. He sighed and leaned forward, arms resting on his knees.

"Your daughter." Tony spoke quietly too, his voice almost raspy.

Gibbs didn't speak, just nodded.

Mirroring his boss's position, Tony began hesitantly, "The woman in the picture…?"

Tony saw the marine close his eyes and swallow. "Shannon," Gibbs said quietly. "My first wife."

Able to hear the pain in his boss's voice, Tony opened his mouth but stopped. The investigator in him could put two and two together. The dust covering the room, the 'first wife', and that pain all said something bad had happened. But, yet again he didn't know whether it was respect or fear or both, Tony couldn't bring himself to ask.

Gibbs realized that though, and answered the unspoken question. "They were murdered. Eleven years ago. While I was deployed during Desert Storm."

There was a moment of silence before Tony finally asked, "Did you get him?"

Had it been any other topic, Gibbs would've smiled at the direct question; the way his agent had just skipped over normal platitudes and condolences, and seemingly instinctively knew what had transpired. But this wasn't any other topic. Gibbs did, however, turn and look his agent in the eye as he answered honestly. "Yeah. I got him."

Tony nodded simply. "Good."

This time Gibbs did allow a small half-smile. But it was gone quickly, and he went back to staring at the floor.

"Nobody knows," Gibbs admitted after a minute.

"Not even Ducky?" Tony questioned in bewilderment.

Gibbs just shook his head.

Silence reigned once again as both men fell back into their own thoughts. This time it was Tony who broke it with softly spoken words.

"I bet you were a great dad."

A sad smile formed on Gibbs's face, but he didn't look up. "I tried," he whispered.

"I won't say anything," Tony promised.

"I know," Gibbs replied simply, looking at the young man.

The reply was so instant it took Tony by surprise. His confusion must've shown because Gibbs continued. Though instead of an explanation, he asked a question of his own.

"You don't remember, do you?"

"What?" Tony wondered slowly.

"What you told me the last time you were here," Gibbs elaborated.

Tony chuckled nervously, trying to keep his tone light and unaffected as he retorted, "What'd I talk about? College? Spring break? Girls? Movies? The new – "

"Your father," Gibbs interrupted before his agent could continue deflecting.

Swallowing hard, Tony looked away. Now he was the one staring at a spot on the floor. "Oh," he muttered quietly.

Gibbs watched him for a minute. It was moments like these that reminded him how much of Tony's confidence was just an act. Moments like these Gibbs could see past all the kid's walls. It brought out a part of him that only one other person since Kelly had evoked.

"Some things can stay just between us," Gibbs assured the young man.

Tony looked at his boss hopefully. "Yeah?" he questioned quietly.

"Yeah," Gibbs affirmed with a nod.

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 **A/N: Well, I hope you guys liked that little oneshot! I was pretty sure in one episode, I think it was Gibbs who mentioned it, that Abby had taken a while to warm up to Tony. If you know where that was from, please let me know! It's driving me crazy. Lol. I tried to keep things canon, but this was before we met everyone so I adjusted certain aspects and filled in blanks. Anyway, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!**


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